-John

Confesso que não faz muito tempo que eu aderi ao Facebook. Mas, como todos já devem saber, gosto de me manter conectado a tudo através do BlackBerry. E como, acessar o Facebook, pelo browser (nativo), não é uma experiência muito agradavél. Fui atrás de uma segunda alternativa.

E posso dizer que foi relativamente fácil encontra-la. O próprio Facebook disponibilizou um aplicativo, que permite gerenciar uma conta através do BlackBerry.

Clique aqui, para baixar o aplicativo.

Source - ePrice Hong Kong

You have to give it up to the person that convinced us that we need to go wireless "for all the right reasons".  You know: never out of touch, easy to reach, able to contact help in case of an emergency.  Yada, yada, yada.

For almost twenty years now, I have been...um...connected.  First, the pager.  Then, the cell phone.  Then the crackberry, only to leave that job and go back to the cell phone.  What the spin meisters failed to mention is that this means anyone can reach you whenever they want.  24x7, 3x5, whatever "all day, all night" jargon you want to use.

It's the ball and chain.  Sometime, it's tough to stay away.  Especially when your corporate phone calls on your personal cell phone doubles your phone bill for the month.

I requested and received a crackberry today so I don't impact my personal finances by going over on my cell phone minutes.  I am again available around the clock - via e-mail and phone.  So much for down time.  Yuck!

We'll see if I use the crackberry in moderation or not.

Still, I gotta hand it to the marketing folks that convinced everyone to be available all the time.  Look at how well it has improved our driving habits.

clicca qui per visionare galleria

Fonte:CrackBerry

No necesitaras PDA's, ni PC's de escritorio ni siquiera tu XBOX 360 para comunicarte con tus contactos de Windows Live Messenger pues a partir de esta semana los usuarios de Blackberry podran acceder a los servicios de Windows Live Hotmail y Windows Live Messenger de Microsoft de manera gratuita.

Los Servicios de Windows Live ya se pueden descargar desde www.blackberry.com/windowslive y se prevee que para las proximas versiones vendra integrado en el dispositivo a traves de un icono del mismo en el menú. Para acceder al servicio solo debes colocar tu usuario y contraseña.

El buzon de blackberry se sincroniza automaticamente con Windows Live para que los contactos esten siempre actualizados. Los correos de WL tendran una casilla aparte pero si el usuario quiere podría desviarlos todos al mismo buzón.

Con esto, ya vas a poder estar conectado siempre al Messenger y disfrutar conversando con tus amigos. Para aquellos adictos al Messenger y que poseen blackberry, este sueño se les hizo realidad, inclusive nos cuentan que hasta se pueden enviar emoticon's.

Ahora, se imaginan que con los Blackberry con camara, se pueda utilizar esta para hacer videollamadas por el WLM?. Es solo una idea...

Lee un poco mas aquí

Ahora BlackBerry quiere que también puedas chatear utilizando este dispositivo y para ello ofrece aplicaciones a través de su página oficial para que puedas utilizar los servicios de mensajeros instantáneos como Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger o ICQ, entre otros.

Para descargarlos solo ve a la página oficial de BlackBerry donde ofrece estos servicios dando un click AQUI o ve directamente a la siguiente dirección:

http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/features/instant_message.jsp

You could say that over the years I have become a reading junky. I am addicted to reading just about everything I can get my hands on. Everywhere I go I carry a book with me so that if I have some down time I can read. Also, I always have my blackberry through which I can read blogs, news, and so much more. I have discovered that the more I learn the more I realize how much I don't know. Terri and I now have our children reading everyday which will hopefully become an acquired taste for them as it has for us. I also did not always enjoy reading. As a child my mother tried to get me to read but I had absolutely no interest. When I became a Christian in my senior year of high school I began to get a taste for the value of reading as I picked up books like C. S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity." In my first semester of college I remember a professor going to great lengths to impress upon us the importance of reading. God has since created in me an insatiable hunger to learn and grow and read all that I can. Now my daily reading consists of the Bible, blogs, magazines, journals, online news, fiction, nonfiction, and so much more. I have several books in the lurch waiting for me when I finish Narnia: "The Shack" by William Young, "Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations" by Robert Schnase, "Adam" by Ted Dekker, and "More to be Desired than Gold" by one of my seminary professors, Christy Wilson. I can't wait to dig into these works and mine all their precious jewels.

I recently became aware of just how much I have read these past 30 plus years as our church just finished remodelling our offices. Terri and my family helped me to put my office back together and I was amazed at the number of books that I have. I look forward to continuing to add more and more to my library as a testimony of God's work of creating a hunger in me to continue to grow in understanding all that there is of God, myself, and this world.

Drop us a note here and tell us what you are reading?

Thanks to all that have continued to be avid readers and share their ideas.  Looking over my blog stats, the most popular posts have dealt with mobile banking and Walmart's MoneyCard.  I'd just like to take a moment to discuss those two topics.

How to Get a No-Fee Walmart MoneyCard

By far, this has been the most popular post.  It kind of makes me wonder why banks/credit unions don't offer a similar product.  I don't know the exact number of Walmart cardholders, but from the complaints I've heard from our customers, I think customers would love a card like this.  Eventually, overdraft fees will become a very sensitive topic.  You can already find some very public posts about how banks are handling their overdraft fees.

As people become more educated about fees, this particular fee income could dry up.  Why not offer pre-paid cards to your customers?  This could open up that unbanked/underbanked market that we all hear about.

Mobile Banking

Why the iPhone Doesn't Matter For Mobile Banking has gotten a lot of hits.  With the release of the iPhone 3G, there have been a slew of articles concerning the iPhone and mobile banking.  A few of the popular ones are by Ron Shevlin, Morriss Partee, Jim Bruene and Mark Schwanhausser.

Me, I think mobile banking will become a vital channel.  Here in SC, we have a lot more rural customers with poor internet connections.  These same customers tend to have cell phones, which opens a new channel.  After reviewing surveys and actually talking to customers, I feel this is a channel that we can’t ignore.  Yes, there is no ROI at the moment, but the same could be said for online banking ten years ago.

As for the iPhone’s impact, I still think it won’t drive mobile banking, for most of the industry anyways.  According to our web stats, BlackBerry users still access our site more the iPhone users, though the iPhone is gaining.  But most BlackBerry users got their phone through their company.  iPhone users tend to be on the leading edge of technology.

The typical cell phone owner is not going to get a high end phone with a data plan.  Once the price of data plans drop, then we’ll see an increase mobile web users.  Until then, adoption of mobile banking through the mobile web will be slow. 

To put it in perspective, Mark mentions that Jack Henry’s goDough is at 65 banks and has a total of 6,559 users.  That’s about 100 users per bank.  Bank of America now has 1 million mobile web users.  I wish BB&T would release their numbers since they offer SMS alerts.  I know they have way more than 6500 users.  It wouldn’t surprise me if they sign up that many per week, with no major advertisements.

Over the last year, it’s been fun watching the banking industry evolve.  I look forward to many more and I’m glad you’ve decided to join me.  Here’s to many more.

BlackberryGTD.com does a clear and concise review of the fabulous Mypoynt application which does search, directions and instant messaging…

Once upon a time we had two notable applications like Berry411 and InfoSpace Find It that in their time we’re pretty good but as they say technology, technology, technology is always improving, the aforementioned applications are the dinosaurs of that era, now we have a new kid on the block and this kid is packing a “mean punch” its called MyPoynt, noticed the play on letters, I thought it was original, here’s a shot of how it looks on my Dimension L-theme in OS 4.5 Guys this application is FREEEEEEEEE

read more

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I halved the recipe from the Crisco container and combined:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

a little more than 1/3 shortening stick (I bought sticks, not tubs)

2-4 tablespoons of water

Using my mixer was excessive for this small amount, but a potato masher worked wonderfully as I mashed everything in a large bowl until it all held together, and then put in the refrigerator for approximately 30 minutes.  After it had cooled (much unlike myself), I rolled it out on the counter and used a large circular cookie cutter, which I then rolled it out further.  I used a muffin tin as my pie trays, and covered six spots with wax paper before I carefully put the dough in it and filled with sugared berries.  Because this dough was so elastic, I even got to use my pie cutter and created the lattice top I was unable to use on my cherry pie.  It was a long and tedious undertaking, but looked completelyfingadorable.

Now that the magic of shortening has exposed itself, I am more interested in what lard has to offer.  Moreover, real, homemade lard!

You see up until about six days, three hours and forty-two minutes ago I was a self-proclaimed blackberry addict. I mean who isn't? Yes, I suffered through the dirty looks, the arguments, the injuries and, as of late, the withdrawal but through it all I was a devout "blackberrier". In my prime I could text with the best of them; could easily pull off the "look and type" - maintaining eye contact with customers while making dinner plans under the desk. Yes, I could even look up phone numbers while driving...oh, I mean while parked on the side of the road. Yeah, I would always pull off to look for those numbers. Totally.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and so upon my resignation from IBM I was forced to turn over my beloved blackberry. Kinda in the same way that one might rip a helpless puppy from the hands of its owner and cart it off to some cold, dark shelter. But oh well, I'm not bitter - nope, totally not bitter. (Twitch, pace, grit teeth) I heart IBM. 

So fast forward a couple days and there I am at the AT&T store picking up my new 16GB (white to match my dog) iPhone. I was immediately overwhelmed by this feeling of phone inadequacy. Everything I touched on the iPhone just didn't feel right, I missed the track ball that stopped working when it rained and the two-day delay in receiving data. I missed that screaming do-do-do! sound when my phone cut out. I missed the brick game.  This new iPhone was trying to fill the void left by my blackberry and it just wasn't cuttin' it. Anything that Mr. Engineer Boyfriend, or the sixteen gazillion other people that asked to play with it, showed me I just frowned, looked away and whispered, if only to myself, "My Blackberry could do that." Sigh. I think I should talk to someone about this. Take more vitamin E or something.

All things considered there was one thing that I didn't account for. One comment from an old friend (yes, friend, you know who you are!) who came out of left field to throw some more salt on the wound. To let me know that there is one issue that usurps all the others I was experiencing in the transition to the iPhone. A stigma that is attached to each and every iPhone owner, one that I, (in the same way that I believed no one ever boozed it up in High School) had no idea about.  Something he referred to as (his words, not mine) "iphone douchebaggery".

Although I do sense a bit of "iPhone envy", I will share his ideas here because he, the unnamed, is too Web 1.0 (chicken :) )  to create his own blog and everyone, even this guy, is entitled to his opinion. 

* Note, I have done some minor editing to remove the 42 instances of the "f" word.  

why the iphone is not cool - it's too big to fit in your pocket, and as such it is necessary to carry it around in your hand, then when you sit down you have to place it infront of you on the table for everyone else to see that you have an iPhone (you'll find yourself doing this - a lot) just so you can let everyone know that you can check the temperature in Lusambo in the Democratic Republic of Congo, if you really wanted to.  The placing of 'large' electronic items infront of you is unfortunately a key indicator of what I like to call 'douchebaggery'...  it's up there with people who pretend to be freelance something or others in coffee shops (or other eating establishments that tolerate people bumming their wifi for hours) who sit way too close to the line and make it freaking obvious that they are being creative by sighing and looking at the Word doc on their Mac...  Apple products have become too ubiquitous and far too closely associated with douchebags to be cool.  I will not be buying an iPhone...  blackberry's cooler... especially when accompanied by "oh flipping heck" when an email comes through...  indicating I'm carrying this because I have to, works paying for the thing and I'm not going to buy my own phone too.  

This iPhone has become like a really pretty white shiny thorn that does all kinds of cool stuff including, but not limited to, taking pictures, playing music, twittering, giving me that weather in Lesotho, in my side. Whatever, it isn't the worst.

-John

Coming in September 2008, Harajuku Lovers perfume by Gwen Stefani! Five scents will be released in this line, all available in two sizes (10 mL and 30 mL) and in solid perfume form (as a set of all five). Each fragrance is molded after Gwen's four real-life Harajuku girls (Love, [Lil'] Angel, Music, and Baby). The fifth scent shall represent their leader, "G."

The bottles are two-piece "dolls" that are molded according to their real life Harajuku counterpart, making displaying these on your vanity counter that much more fun.

Below is what you can expect out of each of these scents:

Love — a floral with notes of bergamot, pomelo (citrus, a little like grapefruit), peach, rose, jasmine, orchid and musk

Lil' Angel — a fruity floral with with notes of different berries (raspberry, cranberry, blackberry), pineapple, rose and amber

Music — a floral with notes of clementine, pear, jasmine, sweet pea, honeysuckle, vanilla and musk

Baby — a powder musk with freesia, bergamot, rose, jasmine, musk, heliotrope, vanilla and violet

G — a food lover’s fragrance with mandarin, coconut, apple, freesia and sandalwood

Continue reading for more specific details on what notes to expect!

• LOVE is a floral with top notes of sparkling bergamot, pink pomelo, peach and bamboo leaf mist; a heart of watery peony, living hydroponic lace rose, jasmine sambac, nectarine blossom, creamy paperwhites and Egyptian jasmine, and a drydown of petally ylang, creamy vanilla orchid, sensual musk and blond wood.
• LIL' ANGEL is a fruity floral with notes of raspberry, cranberry, blackberry and pineapple; a heart of pear blossom, candied violet and sugared rose, and a drydown of lollipop accord, hinoki wood and crystal amber.
• MUSIC has top notes of clementine and sparkling pear; a heart of jasmine sambac, sweet pea and honeysuckle, and a drydown of vanilla, skin musk and sleek woods.
• BABY has top notes of freesia, bergamot and white rose; a heart of orange flower, tiare flower and jasmine petals, and a drydown of white musk, soft woods, heliotrope, vanilla and violet.
• G has top notes of crisp mandarin, fresh coconut and apple skin; a heart of jasmine sambac, soft freesia and magnolia vapor, and a drydown of coconut cream, white sandalwood and cottonwoods.

Editor's note: While some have chosen to prematurely criticize these upcoming fragrances, I can't wait to sample each of them! Only a true perfume snob would pass judgment on a perfume [line] simply because of it's designer, what the bottle looks like, the name of the scent, etc. I give Gwen credit in keeping things fresh and fun - her fan base may have a large demographic but a good part of it consists of the younger audience.. to simply ignore that aspect of your market would be pretty imbecilic, wouldn't you say?

Is this bad for building relationships?? NO, NO, NO!!! We actually invited a couple to church over facebook last week! They came, we ate lunch, they got excited about ORCC and now they are offically connected - and it all started online. Oh yeah...the best part of this story is that the couple is in their 50s!!!

I keep up with my friends all week long by reading their blogs. I text my husband sweet nothings in the middle of a meeting. We get people coming to church over facebook.

When I do finally see these people face-to-face, I am sure that I pay attention to them and it becomes an authentic connection in person (you can't leave that part out).

Yes, I love technology!

For all of you waiting for the Bold, our moles inside Rogers have told us that it will launch in Canada on August 6th.  I'm sure we will see marketing and promotion in advance of the 6th. 

For you Blackberry fans, rest your thumbs...

1. HTML emails do work if you are running 4.5 OS. If you are saying to yourself... where do I get that, google it and I am sure you will find some results.

2. It breaks the LCS application so, if your company is a big user of the Live Communicator Service app, you are out of luck. I also tried the OCS app, but found that it will not work on this update either. I am sure it will be fixed on the next release.

3. It did fix the security vulnerability associated with .pdf documents.

4. It runs pretty smooth.

Have a good day!

1. Aprite il browser all'indirizzo mobile.blackberry.com

2. Andate nella sezione applicazioni , e poi selezionate la voce "rimanere in contatto" , procedete all'installazione di yahoo messenger ...

3. terminata l'installazione rimanete nel browser e aprite questa url : http://www.blackberry.com/livemessenger

4. selezionate la lingua e procedete con il download ...

Okay, not a smart thing to do when you're giving a speech. But I'm still learning. One thing I learned from that experience is that if you call someone a dumb fuck, other people tend not to ask any questions. The Q&A part of that show was therefore mercifully short.

But I digress.

Anyway, the BlackBerry went back to Forbes, and I finally bought an iPhone. I got it this week, on Monday. A salestard named Garrett at the Burlington Mass. Apple store was very helpful but somehow managed to activate my account using the wrong email address -- he left out the underscore. So some other poor bastard named Dan Lyons started getting all my mail from AT&T. (Thank you, wrong Dan Lyons, for alerting me.) Anyway, I went online, created an account at AT&T wireless, and changed the email address on the account to the correct one. Still, the Wrong Dan Lyons kept getting mail for me from AT&T. I tried getting through to AT&T phone support but was warned about "extended wait times" and they weren't kidding. Three different times I walked around holding the phone and listening to the hold music until I couldn't take it anymore and just gave up. Meanwhile, ever more annoyed missives from Wrong Dan Lyons kept arriving in my inbox. Thanks, fucker.

Finally I traveled out to the horrible Burlington mall where I bought the iPhone and was stopped at the door of the Apple store by an incredibly prickish Apple "concierge" (that's Spanish for "smug useless dickhead") who heard me out and then told me, politely, to go fuck myself because Apple couldn't fix the email address on my account. I was like, Dude you're the retards who typed it in wrong. Shouldn't you fix it? He told me, again, very politely, to go fuck myself. I was like, Dude do you know who I am? I invented Fake Steve. Have you heard of him? He was like, Fake who? What? Huh? He then suggested I go bother the morons at the AT&T store in the same mall. I did, and there I was met by an even more developmentally disabled cretin who said AT&T couldn't help me either. I said if Apple can't help me and AT&T can't help me, what am I supposed to do? He shrugged. I mentioned Kafka. He said, Huh? Meanwhile my three-year-old son had spotted the Rainforest Cafe next door and decided this would be a great time to throw a fit about wanting to go to the "jungle." I caved, as I usually do, and left the AT&T store and tried to get a table at Rainforest, only to be informed by the girl at the hostess desk (nattily attired in a forest ranger outfit) that there would be a forty minute wait for the shitty overpriced food.

Try explaining that to a three-year-old and his twin sister. Oh joy.

Next day I called AT&T phone support and finally got through. Woman assures me the email has been fixed. We'll see.

Meanwhile, dear Apple and AT&T: You suck.

And by the way, to Garrett the salestard at the Burlington Mall Apple store and to the concierge douchebag -- I'm coming back with my iPhone and I'm going to take your photos and put them on my blog, assholes. I might even do some nasty things to them with Photoshop. I'm sorry, but you brought this upon yourselves.

Peace out.